Up to a million Canadians would struggle to cope with a 1 per cent rise in interest rates with 700,000 at risk from even a 0.25 per cent rise

Prices for newly-built homes were flat nationwide in November, for the fourth consecutive month.

Annual gains were unchanged too, the first time a year-over-year figure has not gained on a nationwide basis since January 2010.

Statistics Canada reported that builders in 18 of the 27 CMAs reported flat or decreasing prices in November with Regina (-0.6%) and St. John's (-0.4%) posting the largest decreases due to “unfavourable market conditions”. Both markets have increased inventories of unsold single-family homes and have shown decreasing prices in 10 of 11 months in 2018.

Three British Columbia CMAs posted lower prices with lower selling prices the primary reason for a 0.3% decrease in Vancouver, while builders in Victoria and Kelowna saw prices dip 0.1% due to promotional offers to stimulate sales.

The largest price increases in November were in Ottawa (+0.6%) and Montréal (+0.4%), with construction costs listed as the primary reason for the gain in both CMAs.

On a 12-month basis, Ottawa (+4.9%) and London (+3.6%) registered the largest 12-month gains among the surveyed CMAs for the sixth consecutive month.

Eight CMAs reported 12-month decreases in November, led by Regina (-2.6%). Toronto saw prices drop 1.3% year over year in November, continuing the trend started in April 2018.